Gazing into The Void: An Interview with Jeremy Gillespie

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last week or so, you’ve probably heard of there’s a new project currently walking the horror crowd-funding block and it demands your attention. Like, you’ll regret not contributing to this one in a bad way. Spearheaded by Astron 6 alum Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski (Manborg, Fathers Day, W is for Wish from ABCs of Death), The Void is a practical creature effects journey into the darkness. From the campaign:

“In the middle of a routine patrol, officer Daniel Carter happens upon a blood-soaked figure limping down a deserted stretch of road. He rushes the young man to a nearby rural hospital staffed by a skeleton crew, only to discover that patients and personnel are transforming into something inhuman. As the horror intensifies, Carter leads the other survivors on a hellish voyage into the subterranean depths of the hospital in a desperate bid to end the nightmare before it’s too late.”

I got the chance to speak with Jeremy about what to expect from The Void, the benefits of working with practical effects and some very important questions regarding baby animals.

Drunk in a Graveyard: Starting it off simple for those just joining us, who are you and how are you involved with The Void?

Without revealing too much of the story, what can we expect from The Void?

Expect a pretty intense and atmospheric creature movie with some surreal, supernatural leanings. It’s a total melding of Steve and my tastes. Tons of insane monster stuff.

Aside from being able to have actors work directly with creatures and effects instead of putting them in post-production, what are some of the less obvious benefits of shooting with practical effects?

Being able to light something in the real world will always be more convincing to an audience than something created digitally. You can have an idea, and then shoot it immediately and see the results. Lots of happy accidents.

Going off the promo pictures and videos you’ve put out so far this project seems much darker in tone than some of your previous work with astron-6 (even though some of those went to fairly dark places). Is this an accurate assumption or will the Void have campy moments as well?

It’s a straight up horror movie, so yeah, definitely darker in tone. That doesn’t mean it’s completely without humor, but it’s definitely taking a different route than our previous stuff.

Will we see any familiar faces showing up in The Void?

In the works, so you’ll have to wait and see.

Can we have a hint at the significance of the ominous triangles and pyramids that are very prevalent in the trailer and crowd-funding campaign?

They mean ‘everything’s going to work out great!’

Because straight ahead interviews aren’t always fun, now for the DIAG lightning round:

Puppies or Kitties? Would have said puppies a few years ago, but gotta go kitties.

(Steven asked that it be known that he considers Jeremy “flat out wrong in his preference for kitties”)

Glam metal or power metal? Glam. Dokken will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Savini or Winston? Stan Winston. Aliens. The end.

Xenomorph or The Thing? That’s like Sophie’s choice. I CAN’T CHOOSE! DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE!!!

One last question: If you couldn’t tell by our name, we tend to enjoy our horror movies with a drink or two. What adult beverage would you suggest when we finally get to sit down with a copy of The Void?

I guess like human blood, or whatever.

Do you have any parting words of wisdom for folks who may encounter white robed figures in the near future?

If they have triangles on their faces, then for sure let them in your house.

Thanks to Jeremy and Steven for taking the time to answer some questions for us. We look forward to seeing what horrors The Void holds. If you can, consider donating to the crowd-funding campaign here or you’ll probably regret it when everything starts rolling and you get left at the train station.